Tag seal



g- 1950 w. w.ARTz1 EI'AL 2,517,376

TAG SEAL Filed April 13. 1945 INVEN 0R.

WILLIAM WARTZTI'QHARK Rusmorr ATTO/M/f) destroying the seal.

Patented Aug. 1, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TAG SEAL William W. Artzt, New Rochelle, and Mark Rubinofi, New York, N. Y.

Application April 13, 1945, Serial No. 588,180

p g This inventionrelates to improvements in seals and sealed tags which cannot bedetached without Sealed tags have heretofore been used to seal the same against unauthorized removal, for

instance, where a garment or any other article may be returned Within a specified periodby a dissatisfied customer, provided the sealed tag has notbeen removed from the garment or article. This provides protection for the store owner against the Wearing ofa garment by a customer who might then return the same for refund or exchange, and also provide protection for the general public against the wearing of garments previously worn and then returned to the store by others, which as Will be appreciated is against recognized sanitary practices. By attachment of the seals or sealed tags in a conspicuous manner the practice of purchasing an expensive garment on accountwearing the same, and'returning it at a later date for credit is eliminated. a V

Seals and tags of the character indicated are also employed to identify articles of any nature purchased by a customer on which a deposit is made, or to identify articles left for storage or safekeeping, whereby to avoid substitution of the articles. The foregoing are only a few of the many uses for such seals and tags.

The tags of the foregoing type are generally provided with n. casing secured to the tag, and

,securedto the tag by inserting an anchoring member carried by the element into the casing to prevent removal of the tag without destruc tion of the parts providing the sealed tag or ,without damage to the garment or article.

- The present invention aims to further improve such seals and sealed tags.

An object of the present invention is to more 2. Claims. (01. co- 20) I j veniently stored prior seal. l

2 to assembly to provide a Another object is to provide an inexpensive, tamperproof seal or sealed tag adapted to be manufactured by simple, rapid and economical operations. 3

A further object consists in the combination of elements and arrangement of parts whereby the foregoing objects and advantages may be accomplished.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be manifest from the following descrip sta'ntially alon the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of a tag shown .attached to a garment or the like, embodying the present invention;

, Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the tag of i a flexible elementsuch as a loop or cord adapted :-to be attached to the garment or article and Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing another method of attaching the sealed tag of the present invention to a garment or the like;

Fig. 8, is an elevational View of the attaching means, anchoring means and filament of the present invention, showing another method of attachingjthe same to a garment; or the like r Fig. 9 is a plan view,- partly in section of an [anchoring means adapted for attachment to one end of the filament;

secrely attach the elements providing the seal to j the tag.

Another object is to provide improved locking means for forming the seal.

. Another-object is to provide an improved element having portions integrally secured thereto or formed therewith forcooperating with the locking means to secure the seal or sealed tag to a garment or the like.

Another object is to provide a seal orsealed tag adapted to be readily attached to a garment orthe like.

Another object is to provide sealing means constructed of separate parts adapted to be con- Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on line Ill-Ill Fig. ii is a view of a modified form of seal; and

' Fig; 12 is a fragmentary view of the blank from which the seal of Fig; 11 is formed.

Referring to the drawing indetail and first of jalltothe seal shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, which seal is formed from a blank l2, which may be metalyplastic or any other suitable material, having integral portions [4 and I6 which eventually are to form back and frontwalls of the seal,

respectively, when the same are folded over upon each other along the dot and dash line I8.

" between" the wall for the reception of The frontwall 16 has a depression 20 formed therein whereby to provide a recess or chamber locking means about to be described. i

an aperture 32 substantially in alignment with. the opening. The member 28 also has inwardly,

converging legs 34, the free edges ofiwhichzare adjacent each other.

The front wall has a plurality of orifices .40 in alignment with protuberances 42 on the rear wall and adapted to register. therewith when the walls are folded over upon each other in the manner aforementioned whereby to" facilitate welding the walls to each other. It is to be understood that the protuberances may be omitted ifdesired .and the walls autogeneously welded to each other.

Afiexible element- 48,-such as a string, cord, wire, plastic filament or the like, is provided at one end with an integrally secured pointed member-Bil. The end of the member 50 to which the elementdB is secured, as shown in Fig. 8, is hollow or slit for the reception of the endof element, the slit or hollow end of the member 50 being crimped, crushed or otherwise formed about the end of the element'whereby to secure the element and member irremovably together.

The other endof the flexible element 48 is provided with an integrall secured-eyelet or grommet 54 (Figs. 1, 9 and 10) This' end of the element when placed in the grommet is securely held therein .by crushing or crimping the grommet about the element whereby the grommet is irremovably secured to the element.

The flexible element with the pointedmembers on one. end and the grommet on the other is adapted to be made, handled and stored separably of the seal to thereby avoid'tangling of a group'of flexible. elements.

The pointed member 50' "simulates a needleand is-provided with a shoulder 56 intermediate" its ends.- the shoulder being formed by tapering the member as indicated at 58 .(Fig. 8). The member" 50- is adapted to be inserted into. the seal through the opening '22 and into the locking means 28 through the aperture 32 to the position shown'in Figs. land l where the shoulder 56, engages the free edges of thelegs 34. of the locking means whereby to prevent the pointed member from being withdrawn from the seal once it is inserted in the aforesaid manner.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 4,..the upper end of the pointed member 50 extendsbut avery slight distance out of the seal so that tampering with the intention of removing .the element 48 from the end of the member 50 is rendered futile.

The seal may be attached to. a garment or the like in the manner shown in Fig. 8. Inthis illustration the pointed member is passed through'the for the attachment of a sealed tag to a garment or the like.

It will be appreciated that the seal hereinbefore described may be used separately from a tag and when so used any desired indicia may be applied thereto. For example, the initials, monogram or other description of the manufacturer may be stamped or otherwise applied to the front wall of the seal as shown in Fig. 2. The rear wall may have indicia applied thereto such as numerals designating the article, customer, account or the like as also shown in Fig. 2, or a signature, trademark, symbol or other designation may be applied instead-of the numerals as desired.

The seal may be applied to a tag bearing the customary data. The seal is applied to one edge of the tag by merely folding the front and rear walls 16 and M of the blank over the edge of the tag in the manner shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7.

When'applie'd toia .tag .60- the tag. is providedwith orifices in. register with .theaprotuberances -42--of the rear wall which extend througnsuch; orifices andinto the orifices :40 insthe frontwwall and :the walls welded to; each'otherrin the-manner hereinbefore described.

In the form illustrated irrFigs; 5and-6 the seal is provided withan-zaperture :26" adjacent .the lower ends of both' its walls and a:corresponding aperture in :thev tag in register therewith. The seal illustratedintFigsgfi andx6 has "orifices-.40 corresponding to the orifices 40 of Fig. 2.21. chamber- 20"corresponding.;to the chamber 20 of Fig. 2, protuberances 42..corresponding .to the protuberances-42 of Fig. 2, and theflexibleelement 48 and-the pointed member 50' correspond respectively to the element :48 and mernber 50 of Fig.2.

These aligned apertures-are adapted to receive the element which maybe: passed therethrough until-thegromet engages the seal-and the pointed member may then be pinnedf. to: a. garment: for temporary attachment, before sale or purchase of thegarment, whereby the same can be removed to'alter data on the *tag; if desired.

"When the garment is sold, or when .it isrknown that there are to be no changes made in the-data on the tag; the pointed member is passedthrough a garment or the like 62 andthen inserted in-the seal in the aforesaid manner, resulting in: the permanent'attachmentof the tag to the garment in the manner illustratedin' Figs. 5 and 6.-

Another method of attaching the tag to a garment is illustrated in Fig. '7. In this illustration the pointed member 50' which corresponds to the 'member .50 of Fig. 2 is-passed througha button. hole '63, or it'maybe'passed through the garment and into the seal;

The sealiillustrated in Figs; 11 and 12 is similar in all respects'to the 'sealof Figs. '1 to 4 inclusive, except that prongs T68 are provided I at the peripheryof the rear Wall M whichare adapted to be bent inwardly to overlie the marginal portion ofthe other wall and to be autogeneouslywelded thereto by electrical resistance welding apparatus, or byany other suitable method to thereby secure the wallswof the seal to each other in'the same manner as .the walls' of the seal of Figspl to 4 inclusive are sealedtogether.

When the seal of Figs. ll'and' lZare-to be appliedto atag. the tagis provided with 'slitsor apertures in alignment with'the prongs whereby the prongs can extend therethrough and.overlie the marginal portionofthe other wall and welded vto the other wall in the manner 1' previously described.

From the foregoing description it will be seen,

that the present invention provides an improved seal and sealing tag, the elements of which are simple in construction, are readily manufactured, and are conveniently stored.

The seals or tags can be attached in a simple expeditious manner, and once attached are sealed against removal without destruction or mutilation of the parts comprising the seal, the filament, or the garment. The seals and sealed tags are sturdy in construction and can readily withstand any rough usage to which they normally may be subjected.

While we have illustrated and described preferred embodiments of our invention it is to be understood that we do not wish to be limited to these precise embodiments, as obviously various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. A seal tag comprising in combination integral front and back seal members adapted to be bent over the edge of a tag, said front member forming a chamber having an aperture in one end thereof, means for securing said members to each other with the tag between them, a substantially U-shaped member formed of spring metal between the tag and one of said members, said U-shaped member having inwardly converging legs and an aperture in the bend thereof in alignment with said first mentioned aperture in one of said seal members, a flexible filament having an elongated member provided with a pointed end and adapted to extend through said apertures and having a shoulder adapted to be engaged by the ends of said legs to lock the pointed member in the chamber with its pointed end adjacent the end of the chamber remote from the aperture therein and its other end effectively closing the aperture in the chamber whereby to irremovably secure the filament to the tag.

2. A seal tag comprising in combination integral front and back seal members adapted to be bent over the edge of a tag, said front member forming a chamber having an aperture in one end thereof, means carried by one of said members and extending through the tag for securing said members to each other with the ta between them, a substantially U-shaped member formed of spring metal between the tag and one of said members, said metal member having inwardly converging legs and an aperture in the bend thereof in alignment with said first mentioned aperture in one of said seal members, a flexible filament having an elongated pointed member adapted to extend through said apertures and having a shoulder adapted to be engaged by the ends of said leg to lock the pointed member in the chamber, said pointed member being of such length relative to the chamber that when the pointed member is locked in the chamber one end of the pointed member will project through the aperture in the wall of the chamber to sub-- stantially close the latter aperture whereby to front and back members, one of said members providing the walls of a chamber having an aperture therein, and the other member providmg a closure wall for the chamber, said members being adapted to be irremovably secured to each other and to a tag and having registering apertures extending therethrough, a substantially U-shaped member formed or" spring metal housed in said chamber, said U-shaped member having inwardly converging legs and an aperture in the bend thereof in alignment with the aperture in the chamber, and a flexible filament having an eyelet irremovably secured to one end and an elongated member irremovably secured to the other end, said elongated member being provided with a pointed end whereby to facilitate the passage thereof through the registering apertures in the front and back members and through fabric, said eyelet being larger than said registered apertures in the chamber to prevent pas sage therethrough, said elongated member having a shoulder intermediate its ends and being adapted to be inserted through the apertures in the chamber wall and the U-shaped member to a position where the said shoulder will be irremovably engaged by said legs to irremovably anchor the end of the filament carrying the elongated member in the seal, the elongated member being of such length that when the shoulder is so engaged the pointed end will be adjacent one end of the chamber and the other end will project out of the chamber through the aperture therein, said elongated member being of substantially the same diameter as the said aperture in the chamber wall, whereby its projecting end will effectively close the last named aperture, the said eyelet providing an anchor for the other end of the filament.

WILLIAM W. AR'IZT. MARK RUBINOFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 495,270 Rozell Apr. 11, 1893 799,614 McCormick Sept. 12, 1905 848,879 Brown Apr. 2, 1907 898,630 Carroll Sept. 15, 1908 916,588 Pierce Mar. 30, 1909 942,315 Elliott Dec. 7, 1909 970,529 Miller Sept. 20, 1910 1,001,878 Miller Aug. 29, 1911 1,141,895 Fraser June 1, 1915 1,198,826 Dansereau Sept. 19, 1916 1,308,771 Behrman July 8, 1919 1,871,064 Kipper et a1 Aug. 9, 1932 1,886,451 Stiles Nov. 8, 1932 2,199,348 Rubinofi Apr. 30, 1940 2,284,922 Rubinoff June 2, 1942 2,331,233 Rubinoff Oct. 5, 1943 2,337,729 Ashton Dec. 28, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 35,288 Holland Mar. 16, 1935 

